MetroWest students aspiring for military academies face admissions gauntlet

Sunday

Mar 17, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 17, 2013 at 5:04 PM

Aidan Ricard’s journey to the Navy started as a young boy, when his neighbor, an old Army colonel, would call him over to his home on Surrey Street in Natick and tell war stories.

Brad Petrishen/Daily News staff

Aidan Ricard’s journey to the Navy started as a young boy, when his neighbor, an old Army colonel, would call him over to his home on Surrey Street in Natick and tell war stories.

For Carson Hart of Wayland, the dream of being a seafarer was forged over years of summers at his family summer home in Maine, where his relatives used to catch lobsters by trade.

Ken Zarrilli of Southborough knew he belonged at West Point the moment he saw it, describing the sight of the determined cadets running up its storied hills as one of the most profound moments of his life.

Many of the men and women who will someday lead the nation’s military are on pins and needles this month, as they wait to learn whether they will be accepted to institutions whose education can be worth close to a half-million dollars.

As they wait for the letter that could change their lives, the academies themselves are constantly changing, working to update their curriculum to meet the ever-expanding demands of modern warfare.

And with interest in the academies rising and the country winding down its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this year’s crop is facing some of the stiffest competition yet.

A monumental task

As a general rule of thumb, nearly nine out of 10 students who apply for one of the major three service academies will be turned down.

Applicants to the big three - U.S. Military Academy at West Point, U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy - and a fourth, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, must not only score well in class and on standardized tests, but must have their application endorsed by a U.S. representative or senator.

Admissions officers are now looking for students who are challenging themselves with AP math or science courses, said Rocco DiRico, deputy district director for U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-5th. A 4.0 GPA with "normal" classes is no longer enough.

Another vital component is the ability to handle a lot at once, DiRico said, since students will need to balance challenging academic classes with grueling workouts.

U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-3rd, said she also looks for the ultimate intangible: a clear expression to her staff of a sense of duty to the nation.

"That’s the bottom line," she said. "It’s about service to our country."

In 2012, the Naval Academy was the choosiest school, admitting just 1,394 of 20,601 applicants, or 6.8 percent. West Point admitted 1,193 of its 15,171 applicants – 7.9 percent – while of the 12,274 applications the Air Force received, 1,045 – 8.5 percent – accepted an appointment.

Applications for the Naval Academy have nearly doubled in the last five years, jumping from 10,960 in 2008 to the 20,601 last year.

But Navy spokeswoman Colleen Roy said the school hasn’t increased its admission rate much from year-to-year, and generally seeks to offer appointments to about 1,400 students regardless.

West Point, in West Point, N.Y., has also seen its admission percentage go down recently. It lets in about 11 percent on average, said spokesman Francis J. DeMaro Jr., but the rates have been 7.9 and 9 percent the last two years, respectively.

"We are slowly becoming even more competitive because the number of applicants is going up and the number of admitted is being held," DeMaro said.

The academy can only have 4,400 cadets in the school at any one time by law, he said.

"During the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, we were able to slightly increase our admittance and commissioning numbers to meet demands of the troop surge," he said, but that’s no longer the case.

Inspired to serve

Many of those accepted to the academies have already received notice, though some of the final slots will continue to be filled over the next few weeks.

Ricard knows he’s been accepted to the Naval Academy. He was "shocked" when Rep. Markey called him on New Year’s Day to tell him he was going to choose him to be a "principal" nominee. A principal nominee is all but guaranteed admission to the academy and the nominating legislator is limited to having no more than five principals in the school at one time.

Ricard said the moment was one he’s been building toward for years. His interest in service began at a very young age, he said, when his next-door neighbor, John Ray, called him over and told him about his experiences during World War II.

Nicknamed "Houdini" for slipping out of POW confinement three times in Tunisia and Germany, Ray was a career military officer who taught at and graduated from West Point in 1939.

Ray died at age 90 in November 2008. Per his wishes, his memorial service was held off until July 4, when his ashes were placed under a flagpole at his Gloucester home that flies a flag in memory of his first wife, an Army nurse.

Ricard said Ray’s life of service to the country inspired him in his own life to help others. A senior at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, Ricard volunteers at homeless shelters, afterschool programs and nurseries along with classmates.

Ricard said when he told them he wanted to continue his service in the Army, they didn’t understand, asking him why he would want to give up the traditional college experience to go into the military and, possibly, to war.

"Sometimes you just know what you want to do," said Ricard, who hopes one day to serve on a submarine.

Evolving curriculum

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Math initiative (STEM) championed throughout the chain of modern education also plays a central role in service academies.

Of the 23 majors offered at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., 17 are in STEM disciplines, said Roy. In order to meet national security and Navy service guidelines, the academy now strives to graduate 65 percent of each class with a technical major, she said.

In December 2009, the Naval Academy launched the Center for Cyber Security Studies. Beginning with the class of 2015, the Navy added two cyber courses to the midshipmen’s core curriculum – mandatory courses that must be taken while at the academy.

At the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., the core curriculum is so heavy on the sciences that all graduates earn a Bachelor of Science, said spokesman John Van Winkle.

The school operates three airfields, Van Winkle said. One features a program to train some cadets to fly remotely piloted aircrafts, or drones.

The academy is focusing more and more on space, Van Winkle said, as there are currently two cadet-built and designed satellites orbiting the Earth and two more being built.

The Air Force has admitted the highest percentage of applicants over the last decade, with as many as 15 percent of applicants becoming cadets in 2008. Van Winkle said it’s no surprise so many high-quality candidates are drawn to the school.

"We’re offering a fully-paid education at one of the nation's top undergrad engineering schools, with 100 percent job placement upon graduation, in a variety of career fields, to include engineering, science and aviation," he said.

The National Science Foundation ranked the Air Force Academy as the number one undergraduate research institution in the country in 2011, Van Winkle said.

The government is investing $387,000 in each Air Force cadet over the course of his or her 4-year education, Van Winkle said.

The total West Point education for one cadet costs the government about $443,000, DeMaro said. Roy said the Navy estimates its 4-year cost at about $181,000 per midshipman.

As a return on its investment, the government requires students - who all graduate as officers - to serve five years of active duty and generally three years of reserve duty after senior year.

The long wait

Ricard said he’s spending a lot of time working out to prepare himself for the rigors of the grueling "plebe" freshman training camp.

Others who have applied are either still waiting for a reply or preparing for a different experience.

Carson Hart of Wayland was not accepted to the Naval Academy, but was accepted to the Navy's prep school.

Hart envisions a future as an officer on a ship, and said he’s determined to show the Navy that he’s more than seaworthy.

"I know with my determination I’ll be able to get in (to the academy)," said Hart, who said he was floored by the camaraderie of the school during his visit.

"Just seeing how hard those guys work and how determined they were, I just knew it’s a place I could thrive," he said. "Hard work, honor – those are the things I’d really like to surround myself with."

Algonquin Regional High School senior Ken Zarrilli – who is still awaiting his letter - said he, too, fell in love with his service academy of choice right away.

"There’s this whole aura, almost a euphoria, when you’re there (at West Point)," he said. "You get almost this spiritual uplifting."

Former Algonquin Tomahawk Dan Polanowicz, now a sophomore at West Point, said while the school’s steep hills are uplifting, they’re also exhausting.

"I was not prepared by the amount of running we did (in summer camp)," said Polanowicz, son of recently named Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz, also a West Point grad.

"Some of the things were hard," Dan Polanowicz said of training. "Getting tear-gassed was less than fun."

Polanowicz can now run two miles in just over 13 minutes – two minutes faster than his time as a runner for Algonquin track.

When asked what recommendation he had for area kids getting ready for West Point, Polanowicz didn’t hesitate.

"I’d tell them what I tell every possible cadet," he said. "Start running."

Brad Petrishen can be reached at 508-490-7463 or bpetrishen@wickedlocal.com. For news throughout the day, follow him on Twitter @BPetrishen_MWDN.

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